The present invention relates to a computer system and a method for installing a program in the computer system, or in particular to a method for installing a program in a plurality of computers.
An installer constituting a program for executing a series of install procedures, the very program to be installed and a removable recording medium such as a CD-ROM for storing the required install files are used for installing a program in a computer. In the prior art, the operator carries out the install work by mounting a recording medium in a storage unit such as a CD-ROM of the computer and executing the installer in the computer.
According to another method for installing a program in a computer, a program is installed from a file server connected to the computer through a network. In this method, install files are stored in a storage unit of a file server which is mountable as what is called a network disk from other computers. The operator activates a computer in which a program is to be installed and mounts the storage unit of the file server as a network disk. After that, the operator causes the installer stored in the storage unit of the file server to be executed in the computer, reads the other required files including the file of the program into the computer from the storage unit of the file server, and stores the files at appropriate positions of the storage unit such as a disk unit of the computer.
In the case of installing a program in a plurality of computers on a network, the operator carries out the aforementioned job for each computer. The disk unit of the file server can be shared by all the computers, and therefore the operator can start the installer in a plurality of computers substantially at the same time.
Generally, a removable recording medium has a low file transfer rate and therefore requires a longer time for the install work. In the case where a program is installed in a plurality of computers, the install work is required to be carried out the number of times equal to the number of the computers. Thus, the processing time is lengthened in proportion to the number of computers involved. It is possible to execute the install work for a plurality of computers in parallel by using a plurality of recording media. Nevertheless, the number of the recording media that can be made available is limited. In the case where many computers are involved, therefore, the repetitive processing is unavoidable. Even for executing the parallel processing, it is necessary to mount the recording medium, start the installer and perform various setting processes for each one of the computers, and therefore a plurality of operators are needed.
In the case where the install work is conducted through a network, on the other hand, the file transfer may be increased in speed more than when a removable recording medium is used. In executing the install work for a plurality of computers in parallel, however, the file transfer rate in the file server and the network forms a bottleneck, with the result that the required transfer rate cannot be obtained, thereby making it necessary to repeat the install work a plurality of times. Generally, the version-up of a program by improving the program function and correction of a fault is a common practice, which is accompanied by the program install work. For this reason, the personnel expenditure for the install work is a cause of an increased operation cost for maintaining and managing a computer system.
Another problem occurs in the case where the operator for carrying out the install work does not belong to the organization owning the computer. The entry of such a operator into the place where the computer exists is not desirable from the viewpoint of confidentiality. Also, method of the program install work varies from one program to another, and a vast length of the training period is required for all the operators to master all the program install methods. In the event that the operator is not skilled enough in a program install method, the secondary problem may occur including the requirement for the reinstall work due to the failure of the first install work and the destruction of the file in the disk unit.
The object of the invention is to provide a method of efficiently installing a program in the computers making up a computer system, which can reduce the operating cost for the maintenance and management of the computer system.
In order to achieve this object, according to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for installing a program in a plurality of computers constituting a computer system comprising a management console operated by the operator to perform the operation of installing a program in the computers and a storage subsystem connected to the computers and the management console. In this method, the processing of an install agent is started on each computer under the control of the management console. The install agent, once the processing thereof is started, loads in the computer the installer program stored in a first storage unit in the storage subsystem, and starts the program. The installer program, once started, executes the program installation after a file stored in the first storage unit and related to the program to be installed is transferred to a second storage unit used by the particular computer.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer system comprising a plurality of computers, a management console operated by the operator to perform the operation of installing a program in the computers, and a storage subsystem connected to the computers and the management console. The storage subsystem includes a first storage unit shared by a plurality of the computers and a plurality of second storage units used exclusively by the computers, respectively. The first storage unit has stored therein a file related to the program to be installed in the computers and an installer program for carrying out the install work. The second storage units each has stored therein an install agent executed in each computer and a control file accessed by the install agent. The management console includes an install manager for starting the execution of the install agent on each computer. In a preferred mode for carrying out the invention, each computer includes a power control circuit for switching on the power supply thereof in response to an instruction from the install manager. By switching on the power supply of each computer, the install manager causes each computer to start the processing according to the install agent.
Once the processing is started, the install agent starts the installer program on the computer in accordance with the contents of the control file. The installer program reads a related file from the first storage unit and installs the program by transferring the file to the second storage unit exclusive to the particular computer.